I had a black steering wheel cover that was installed by the previous owner maybe fifteen years ago and I have had it for the past five years. It was coming apart and needed to be replaced.

I went with a white wheel cover this time. The first Falcons came with black steering wheels standard. The Deluxe Falcons had white steering wheels, which I always admired. The white steering wheels look nice and do not get as hot while sitting in the sun.

It is a period correct Made in China "The Original Sport Grip, Size A - White". It was sized to fit 14 1/2" - 15 1/2" steering wheels, so I had to hold the top in place with a tie-wrap while I stretched the cover over my big 17" steering wheel.

"Sport Grip gives extra protection to hands from a hot or cold steering wheel. Sport Grip lace-on steering wheel covers are made from our exclusive, extra-thick PorothermŽ material, which gives you the most comfortable cushioned grip available. And since it has a special textured surface, it won't slip through your hands."

The picture also shows my period correct “Kool Kooshion” ventilated automobile seat cushion. They are good for vinyl seats in the summer in a car without air conditioning.

That cover looks good Dennis. I agree in Florida you want the whitest interior possible, I bet. Same as when I lived in California. Getting that way in Washington too, as we approach 100 this week! We had a black interior car when I was growing up and it was brutal.

I happened upon a leather cover at some swap meet or garage sale and dyed it to match the interior on my pickup. Biggest pain in the butt cover I ever installed, but sure looks and feels nice. Would be nice to dye one white when that one of yours fails in another 15 years.

Biggest pain in the butt cover I ever installed, but sure looks and feels nice.

Wow, Roger! That looks really nice. All that stitching would take some patience.

When I took the black steering wheel cover off I got to see my steering wheel for the first time. Boy, is it worn. All the finish is gone. This car has seen a lot of mileage during its life. I had the engine rebuilt, and someone else had rebuilt it at least once prior to me. This car probably has over 300,000 miles on it.

But, ... everything has been fixed and the more that I drive it the better it runs. The engine was really tight after the rebuild and I ran it maybe 10,000 miles before it finally began to loosen up. I've got 22,000 miles on the rebuild now and the engine runs cooler, the gas mileage improved, and the little Falcon flies when I step on the gas. Yeaaaa!

One question: How long do generator brushes last? I installed new ones when I had the engine rebuilt.

One question: How long do generator brushes last? I installed new ones when I had the engine rebuilt.

They last as long as they can, but it is usually based upon load seen over that period. More night driving might make them fail faster than a car driven all during the day - unless you always drive with headlights day or night. Also, as they wear the spring pushing on them has less tension, which causes more arcing and that accelerates their wear/burning away, as well as more wear/burning away of the commutator. If in doubt, check 'em out.

CNN says: "Some 15 million people in the Pacific Northwest are under excessive heat warnings and advisories. That creates "a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are possible," the National Weather Service said. Dozens of records could be broken over the next two days, CNN meteorologists said. Seattle could see 100 degrees, which would be only the fourth time in recorded history. "

Those forecasts are for the W side of the Cascade Mountain range (coastal region), where we are almost totally unused to those kinda temperatures and most homes aren't AC equipped (some are). In Eastern and Central Washington, 100+ temps aren't that unusual; I was in central WA yesterday where the temp was 106 at 4 PM but with very low humidity, so not as uncomfortable as 10 degrees lower on the W side. Last weekend I had my Falcon in a tiny car show in central WA (little area/town called Soap Lake) where the temps ranged to 99 and many people were saying it was a beautiful day for a car show. Go figger!

In Eastern and Central Washington, 100+ temps aren't that unusual; I was in central WA yesterday where the temp was 106 at 4 PM but with very low humidity, so not as uncomfortable as 10 degrees lower on the W side.

It was in the news a few days ago that a record number of children had died after being left in hot cars with the windows rolled up.

My theory:
I believe that this is a unintended result of air conditioning becoming near universal in automobiles. Most drivers (at least here in Tampa) never roll their windows down anymore. Their air conditioners stay on and their windows always stay up. That makes it both easier to forget a child in the back seat and more deadly when it happens.

People left their windows down when they drove older cars without air conditioning. When they left a car somewhere they would have to manually roll the windows up before locking the doors. That would force a person to see a kid in the back seat and made it almost impossible to accidentally leave them in a car with rolled up windows.

For hot weather driving, which is most of the year in Tampa, I roll all the windows down and push my vent windows all the way out so that they act like air scoops to move more air through the car. I also roll my trouser legs up so that I can feel the air from the vents. The black paint does not seem to make the interior of the car hotter than any other color (at least once I am moving) because the air blowing through the car is the same temperature as the outside air temperature. The roof provides shade.

Here is the weather from my phone app. I have never seen "Smoke" as a weather type before. It is very hazy out. The buildings and mountains have disappeared from the Seattle Skyline. I hear it is from the huge forests fires in Canada.